2nd SRS Team Championship – Week 5 Report

And just when everybody thought that springtime was roaring in, time for a step back in winter in the cold breeze of the Zima (“winter”, precisely) layout in Tor Poznan, while in Brands Hatch… well, England is rainy, isn’t it? Let’s open your umbrellas and go on reading the results of the fifth 4Fun Team Championship week!

So, no flowers and blossoms so far except for the livery of David Broomhead, whose wheels are green as a greedy carnivorous plant. Broomhead and Luke Bouwmeester are once again on the top of the (green) hill getting 110 pts. to their Broomgang team, with respectively 108,5 and 111,5 pts – and also the best race laptime for Bouwmeester. Broomhead also tried unsuccessfully to beat Dario Bucalo’s longest slide world record during a wannabe rocket lap in search for the best laptime – but he only slided for a poor 550 meters. Better luck next time! The second place, also increasing the gap in the General Standings on the third, goes to the TradePriceCats (sorry, Cars) guys (102 pts.), along with four wins for Michael Martin (106,6 pts.) and one win plus two second places for Sergio Mendez (97 pts.), who’s also having his livery scratched by win notches from Martin since he has no more space on his car. And once again the third place is for the 4Fun Sim Racing guys (97 pts.), with Omer “His Nissanity” Kinay getting three wins, the best qualy laptime, 113 pts. and the MVP (“Mister Video Performance”) of the week also thanks to his world famous track guides. While in Iowa, Dario “Bucalo Bill” Bucalo stretched to the full extent Ted Hough’s tip on compressing the practice time getting 90 pts. leaning on pure talent and no practice at all; Matteo Venuti (87,5 pts.) could only race once before getting a ban for copying during a school test, while Gianluca Roncaglia, getting back on Sunday from a ban for publicly declaring that the Earth is flat, didn’t race at all. Roncaglia and Venuti are also joining a 4Fun subsidiary, the 4Ban No Racing Team – have fun!

On fourth place, getting their best result so far, the HR Racing guys (90 pts.), that lightening their schedule and properly driving always on the left side of the track get a third place and a top ten in qualy laptimes with Nicholas “Royal Albert” Hall (94 pts.) and a solid pace from Andrew Roberts (85 pts., once again improving his overall performance). One step below from past week here comes the a-little-less-ultra-but-still-solid Full Solid… pardon me, Full Send Racing team (88 pts.), leaded by Giuseppe D’Andrea (91,5 pts. with a great leap forward), followed by Colin “The Big (Tor Poznan) Chill” Chilibeck (88,5 pts.) and Jason Jones (84,5 pts. but only one race for him). On sixth place, stepping little by little up above, the Thunder Crew Sim Racing guys (85 pts.), who got an ice stream cone in the cold Poznan and finally showed a three of a kind with Alex “Poker Face” Geier – that in his worst race of the past week after the 17th incident got out of his mind whispering “Oh, no” – getting 93,5 points, and supported by the consistency of Evgeni Arkov (84,5 pts.), Jack Mike Mass (84 pts.), Henrik Kjellberg (82,5 pts.) and Martin Sorg (82 pts.), all of them improving their past week results.

The seventh place shows an ex aequo. The Pista & Fichi guys (78 pts.), leaded by a resounding 89,33 pts. from Davide Ramo (two podiums for him) and a placement from Andrea Giusto in his only try (81 pts.), show an ever growing enthusiasm and confidence, thanks also to Simone “Mr. Heli – for those playing retro games, nothing else” Saviolo (78,6 pts.), that had a smashing win but also some slides on figs’ peels, throwed on track by Andrea Piovanelli and Simone Scuola having a snack beside the track. Seventh place then also for the impeccable GentDrivers guys, getting a win with Roman “Empire” Bisanz (86,5 pts., due to a 70 pts. first race) and 78,5 from Abdon Socias, while Lars Mars, Christopher Myles and Tim Masson had a composed and well-mannered week of rest. On ninth place, the Italia Racing Team guys (80 pts.), on Italia Racing Man mode thanks to Marco Di Paolantonio  (90,5 pts.). In his first tries on the series he asked some tips on how to configure the wheel keys to Sergio Mendez, and as a result he teleported himself to the pits while leading 300 meters before the chequered flag – well, Mendez does his best to help the community! Anyway, Di Paolantonio proves to be a possible (r)ace in the hole for the team – while Paolo and Stefano Del Grande, Fabio Blascovich and Matteo Deambrogio had a Monopoly game all together after a gargantuan grill – so we all can’t wait to see him back teleporting to pits! Last but not least, once again, the rabid, rebel and revenant Rose Team guys (75 pts.): flowers are not comfortable in cold, so they are waiting for some race in Laguna Seca to show their best. For now Mauro “Am I Getting the Irony?” Castelli (82,33 pts.) fights hard in the pack with Francesco Senni (68 pts.), while Massimiliano Cazzaniga and Davide Schinetti are temporarily off track listening to a reggaeton compilation and will be hopefully back for the last round.

Once again in first place – yaaawn – and on the final straight for the overall win, the TradePriceCars guys (97 pts.) lead the group thanks to the stunning week of Alex Leif (108,5 pts. and two wins) and the usual armored tank performances from David Iglesias (98 pts. with a win and the best qualy laptime, but also an unusal 66 pts. race), Simon Speth (93,67 pts. also with a win) and Michael Martin (88 pts. – he’s a damn clock ticking on the track). On second place, with an excellent result, the Team Havoline guys (89 pts.), leaded by a robotic Michal Janak (95,3 pts. – 90% of his results starts with a “9” and the last 10% with a “10”) followed by the “fast improving racer” (© Omer Kinay) Juan Alberdi (89,67 pts. and a couple of very good results), Matheus “Please, is there someone racing at 5:00 AM CET?” Nolli (88,9 pts., a couple of podiums but also a 60 pts. race) and Eduardo Odriozola with a good 82 pts. week. Well done, guys – salud, na zdravi, felicidades! In third place, back where they belong, the GentDrivers not only with 87 pts. but also with a prestigious and intimate MVP (“My Very Personal”) of the week award for Roman Bisanz (109,5 pts.), getting two wins out of two tries and spots on the best laps ranking, jubilated by Christopher Myles (78,5 pts.) and Abdon Socias (73 pts.) while Lars Mars and Tim Masson were tailoring his tailcoat for the award ceremony.

On fourth place – a miracle under circumstances – the 4Ban Sim Racing team: Matteo Venuti, which is Matteo Venuti, had obviously a win in his only try and 84,5 total points, while Gianluca Roncaglia on a lazy Sunday got a fourth place by staying always in the middle of the track avoiding any trouble and disabling his teleport button, and a CENSORED result in his second try for 81 total points. On fifth place (82 pts.) the Faber to Survive team, written, produced and directed by Martin Faber (93 pts.), although with a couple races less since he’s trying to assemble a couch on his new electric Harley-Davidson – don’t ask for more, while Amitesh Rao and Maurice Klerken are doing a world tour with an hot-air balloon showing a big emoticon on it. Paired on sixth place, the PleasePushMe guys (72 pts.), that had once again a week of struggle and are leaded by Simone “S.Pin” Pinto (79 pts.), followed  by Nicolò Bachetti (70,67 pts., with a 44 pts -!- race) – come on, rising star! – and Stefano Casamonti (66,67 pts.) – come on, you too! – stepping back after a good week; and the Pista & Fichi guys, that at least had a completed race with Andrea “Agritourism” Piovanelli and 74 total points for him.

And that’s all! Let’s prepare for the final rush and warm your bones in Laguna Seca and – as usual – open your umbrellas in Donington. Good luck and have fun!

BTCC 98/99 Series – Weekly Standings

MVP of the Week: Omer Kinay (113 pts.)

BMW M235i Series – Weekly Standings

MVP of the Week: Roman Bisanz (109,5 pts.)

CLICK HERE FOR THE GENERAL STANDINGS